As schools shift to the Common Core, many English language arts teachers are left with questions about how their classrooms should look. Is fiction out? Can I still do strategy instruction? Does close reading mean deliberating on each word? Finally, there's a resource with all of these answers and more. In Focus on Text, bestselling author Amy Benjamin provides practical guidance on how to realistically implement the Common Core reading standards. Part I of the book examines misconceptions about the standards and what's really required. It also takes you inside classrooms to see how teachers are modifying their instruction. Part II tackles each reading standard for grades 4-8. You'll learn how to teach the standards with literary and informational texts and how to use them as a springboard for instruction in writing, language, speaking, and listening. Topics include... * Defining close reading and how is it different from word-by-word reading. When and how do students need to go over a text meticulously? * How to use scaffolding through background knowledge to help students with challenging texts * The best instructional practices to help students increase their range of reading and level of text complexity * Ideas for teaching key concepts such as text structure, point of view, theme, stated and implied meanings, and the progression of ideas and characters * Tweaking your assessments to better align with the Common Core--how to create reading check quizzes, unit tests, and cold reading tests to see if students are growing as readers. * And much, much more! Throughout the book, you'll find teaching tips and practical resources to use with students, such as question starters and sentence stems. You'll also get a wide variety of classroom examples at different grade levels and with different texts. Whether you're experienced with the Common Core or just getting started, this book will give you exciting new ideas for making them work in your own classroom so your students grow as readers!

The Level 4 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A, More Stories B and More Stories C help children to progress from teacher-supported reading at the early Levels to more independent reading. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

Adder's all set to start her new job at Badger's Cleaning Company. But when she climbs a ladder for the first time, she quickly finds she has no head for heights. Can anything help her overcome her fears? Find out in this charming addition to the Phonics Readers series.

Level: EYFS Subject: English Learn first words at home with this motivating wipe-clean book! Lots of practice opportunities to help children learn how to write first words. Wipe-clean pages and pen so that children can try the activities again and again. Colourful, motivating activities to help boost confidence.

Spectrum Reading for Grade 2 includes focused practice for reading comprehension including fiction and non-fiction passages, main idea and story structure, integration of knowledge and ideas, and key ideas and details. Spectrum(R) Reading workbooks contain focused practice for reading comprehension, including letters and sounds, word recognition, integration of knowledge and ideas, key ideas and details, main idea, story structure, theme, and summarization. Each lesson features an illustrated story followed by exercise in comprehension. A variety of fiction and nonfiction reading passages combined with standards-based learning make these workbooks an essential resource for school success. A complete answer key is included. Spectrum, the best-selling workbook series, is proud to provide quality, educational materials that support your students' learning achievement and success.

Good writing begins with good reading. This book is written on the premise that students must embrace reading as a part of the full process of good writing. It may be used by classroom teachers (Grades 6-12) individually or collectively as members of a professional learning community, by pre-service teachers in a literacy course, or by other educators working to support literacy in the classroom. Interdisciplinary discussions relate to all types or genres of reading and writing. This book offers practical lessons and ideas for teaching and motivating all learners using Universal Design for Learning principles. Formatting provides additional ideas for challenged students, including students with special needs, accelerated learners, and English Language Learners, and is aligned with Common Core State Standards for content subjects as well as for language arts. It takes ideas that were formerly reserved for the upper echelon of students in English language arts and reformulates teaching approaches to reach students across the learning spectrum and in all disciplines. All teachers need to be involved in raising the literacy bar, and this book provides activities and strategies for use in the classroom that can promote success for all learners.

The Level 1+ Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. First Sentences and More First Sentences A, B and C introduce children to stories told through complete sentences to provide practice of high frequency vocabulary to build confidence and fluency. Patterned Stories and More Patterned Stories A practise vocabulary in the context of a repeated sentence structure to help develop confidence and fluency. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

Treasure House Composition Skills Pupil Books are aimed at ages 5-11. They include both classic and contemporary fiction and non-fiction, which stimulate children to think, talk and write for a range of purposes. Treasure House Composition Skills Pupil Book 5: - has 20 units - covers all the composition skills in the 2014 National Curriculum - includes a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction extracts, with detailed annotations explaining how each showcases a particular composition skill - accompanies each extract with carefully structured questions, building up to a piece of writing - helps pupils to become assured, proficient writers - provides regular progress checks with 3 review units. This pupil book can be used with Treasure House Composition Skills Teacher's Guide 5 and activities on Collins Connect for a complete programme to enhance writing skills.

Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories: Decode and Develop are exciting new titles in the Oxford Reading Tree series. The stories continue to provide storylines full of humour and drama, with familiar settings and characters. They also support children's transition from fully decodable readers, such as Floppy's Phonics, to a richer, wider reading experience with high-interest vocabulary. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

Over 265 stimulating activities that "turn students on" to writing, while guiding their practice in the writing process -- from prewriting and brainstorming, to first draft, revisions, and a final draft. Students get specific examples and step-by-step instructions that show them exactly how to write paragraphs, essays, letters, journals, and more. Best of all, students can complete all of these reproducible activities independently, with minimal direction from you!

Exam Board: Non-Specific Level: KS2 Subject: Grammar First Teaching: September 2015 First Exam: June 2016 The Skills Builders Year 6 Grammar and Punctuation Pupil Book includes 22 units of full colour activities, to help children gain a firm understanding of grammar and punctuation. The worked examples ensure children understand the concepts, before moving onto fun activities to consolidate their skills. Investigative exercises at the end of each unit provide fun challenges for children to apply their knowledge.

Treasure House Spelling Skills Teacher's Guides provide at-a-glance lesson planning to guide teachers through the activities in Treasure House Spelling Skills Pupil Books. Treasure House Spelling Skills Teacher's Guide 5: - provides at-a-glance planning with overviews, step-by-step instructions and answer keys for all Pupil Book units - offers ideas to enable all children to access learning in Support, Embed and Challenge sections - targets individual learning needs with photocopiable resources - maps units to the 2014 National Curriculum for English

Treasure House Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation Skills Teacher's Guides provide at-a-glance lesson planning to guide teachers through the activities in Treasure House Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation Skills Pupil Books. Treasure House Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation Skills Teacher's Guide 4: - provides at-a-glance planning with overviews, step-by-step instructions and answer keys for all Pupil Book units - offers ideas to enable all children to access learning in Support, Embed and Challenge sections - targets individual learning needs with photocopiable resources - maps units to the 2014 National Curriculum for English

The Level 5 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A, More Stories B and More Stories C take the children from familiar, predictable events at home and school into the less certain realms of fantasy through the magic key adventures. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

"Multimodal Literacy challenges dominant ideas around language, learning, and representation. Using a rich variety of examples, it shows the range of representational and communicational modes involved in learning through image, animated movement, writing, speech, gesture, or gaze. The effect of these modes on learning is explored in different sites including formal learning across the curriculum in primary, secondary, and higher education classrooms, as well as learning in the home. The notion of literacy and learning as a primary linguistic accomplishment is questioned in favor of the multimodal character of learning and literacy. By illustrating how a range of modes contributes to the shaping of knowledge and what it means to be a learner, "Multimodal Literacy provides a multimodal framework and conceptual tools for a fundamental rethinking of literacy and learning.

These engaging Storybooks provide structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. The Storybooks include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends, rhyming stories and familiar settings. Activities at the start of the books help children to practise the sounds and words they will encounter in the story. Questions to talk about at the end of the story provide an extra opportunity for developing childrens comprehension. The books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

Introduce your learners to creative writing and writing for a purpose. They'll write an urban myth and a report of a school play, helping build their extended writing skills as they progress through the units. Each unit focuses on a different text type such as dialogue, reports or instructions. Model texts in each chapter show learners good examples of each writing type and specific activities help them practise grammar typical of the genre. Learners work individually and collaboratively, developing skills such as creative thinking, planning, drafting, peer evaluation and editing.

These engaging Storybooks provide structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1 and 2 sounds. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. The Storybooks include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends, rhyming stories and familiar settings. Activities at the start of the books help children to practise the sounds and words they will encounter in the story. Questions to talk about at the end of the story provide an extra opportunity for developing childrens comprehension. The books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

These decodable non-fiction books provide structured practice for children learning to read. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy and fluency. The books cover the teaching of the Read Write Inc. Sets 1 and 2 sounds with topics including baboons, light and shadow. The clear design helps children learn how to read non-fiction features including captions, labels and diagrams. The books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction and Writing books and an Online resource for a fully integrated approach to teaching literacy. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training to ensure its easy implementation.

These decodable non-fiction books provide structured practice for children learning to read. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy and fluency. The books cover the teaching of the Read Write Inc. Set 1 sounds with topics including swimming and camping. The clear design helps children learn how to read non-fiction features including captions, labels and diagrams. The books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction and Writing books and an Online resource for a fully integrated approach to teaching literacy. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training to ensure its easy implementation.